Wii sales sank on Thanksgiving week, Nintendo says

In September, Nintendo confirmed it would cut the price of its best-selling Wii by $50, bringing the total console price to just under 200 bucks. Nintendo said at the time that the drop would make the Wii “even more appealing.”

But a new set of sales figures from the week ending Nov. 28 tell a different story. According to Nintendo, the number of Wii units sold during Thanksgiving week dropped some 30 percent this year to 550,000 units.

In a press release posted to its corporate site, Nintendo put a bit of positive of spin on the Thanksgiving week sales figures.

"Holiday shoppers are finding value in our products' prices, and through a game-play experience that is unique to Nintendo," noted Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America's executive vice president of sales and marketing.

Well, sort of. Sales are still strong, but the year-over-year trends aren't exactly point in the right direction. So what's behind the slump? As Monitor staff Chris Gaylordhas noted, it's certainly not about the games.

More likely, it's a matter of simple fatigue – the Nintendo Wii has been on the market since 2006, making it a relatively musty machine. Although games such as New Super Mario Bros. help invigorate Wii purists, the tech on the Sony PS3 and Xbox 360 is simply superior.